Physical fitness and shapes of subcortical brain structures in children

“This is an accepted version of an article published by CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS in British Journal of Nutrition on September 2019, available at: doi: 10.1017/S0007114516001239.”A few studies have recently reported that higher cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with higher volumes of subcortical brain structures in children. It is however unknown how different fitness measures relate to shape of subcortical brain nuclei. We aimed to examine the association of the main health-related physical fitness components with shape of subcortical brain structures in a sample of 44 Spanish children aged 9.7±0.2 years from the NUHEAL project. Cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength and speed-agility were assessed using valid and reliable tests (ALPHA-fitness test battery). Shape of the subcortical brain structures was assessed by magnetic resonance imaging, and its relationship with fitness was examined after controlling for a set of potential confounders using a partial correlation permutation approach. Our results showed that all physical fitness components studied were significantly related to shape of subcortical brain nuclei. These associations were both positive and negative, indicating that a higher level of fitness in childhood is related to both expansions and contractions in certain regions of Accumbens, Amygdala, Caudate, Hippocampus, Pallidum, Putamen and Thalamus. Cardiorespiratory fitness was mainly associated with expansions, whereas handgrip was mostly associated with contractions in the structures studied. Future randomized controlled trials will confirm or contrast our findings, demonstrating whether changes in fitness modify the shape of brain structures and the extent to which those changes influence cognitive function.This work was supported by the Commission of the European Community’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7/2008-2013), Grant agreement no. 212652 (NUTRIMENTHE Project); within the 6th Framework Programme, Contract no. 007036 (EARNEST Project); and supported in part by the Commission of the European Community with in the 5th Framework Programme, Contract no. QLK1-CT-1999-00888 (NUHEAL project). This publication is the work of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission of the European Community. Research by A.C. is funded by a Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness grant (State Secretariat for Research, Development and Innovation Secretary, PSI2012-39292). F.B.O. is supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation – MINECO - (RYC-2011-09011) and C.C.S. by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BES-2014-068829). Funders had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article

Effects of Maternal Fish Oil and/or 5-MethylTetrahydrofolate Supplementation during Pregnancy on Offspring Brain Resting-State at 10 Years Old: A Follow-Up Study from the NUHEAL Randomized Controlled Trial

Recent studies have shown that maternal supplementation with folate and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) during pregnancy may affect children’s brain development. We aimed at examining the potential long-term effect of maternal supplementation with fish oil (FO) and/or 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) on the brain functionality of offspring at the age of 9.5–10 years. The current study was conducted as a follow-up of the Spanish participants belonging to the Nutraceuticals for a Healthier Life (NUHEAL) project; 57 children were divided into groups according to mother’s supplementation and assessed through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning and neurodevelopment testing. Independent component analysis and double regression methods were implemented to investigate plausible associations. Children born to mothers supplemented with FO (FO and FO + 5-MTHF groups, n = 33) showed weaker functional connectivity in the default mode (DM) (angular gyrus), the sensorimotor (SM) (motor and somatosensory cortices) and the fronto-parietal (FP) (angular gyrus) networks compared to the No-FO group (placebo and 5-MTHF groups, n = 24) (PFWE < 0.05). Furthermore, no differences were found regarding the neuropsychological tests, except for a trend of better results in an object recall (memory) test. Considering the No-FO group, the aforementioned networks were associated negatively with attention and speed-processing functions. Mother’s FO supplementation during pregnancy seems to be able to shape resting-state network functioning in their children at school age and appears to produce long-term effects on children´s cognitive processing.European Union (EU) 212652 007036Commission of the European Community within the 5th Framework Program QLK1-CT-1999-00888European Research Council (ERC) 322605 META-GROWTHSpanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities FJCI-2017-3339

Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Homocysteine at Birth and Fatty Acid Desaturase Gene Cluster Polymorphisms Are Associated with Children’s Processing Speed up to Age 9 Years

Both pre- and early postnatal supplementation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (AA) and folate have been related to neural development, but their long-term effects on later neural function remain unclear. We evaluated the long-term effects of maternal prenatal supplementation with fish-oil (FO), 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF), placebo or FO + 5-MTHF, as well as the role of fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene cluster polymorphisms, on their offspring’s processing speed at later school age. This study was conducted in NUHEAL children at 7.5 (n = 143) and 9 years of age (n = 127). Processing speed tasks were assessed using Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Children Color Trails Test (CCTT) and Stroop Color andWord Test (SCWT). Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, folate and total homocysteine (tHcy) levels were determined at delivery from maternal and cord blood samples. FADS and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677 C > T genetic polymorphisms were analyzed. Mixed models (linear and logistic) were performed. There were significant differences in processing speed performance among children at different ages (p < 0.001). The type of prenatal supplementation had no effect on processing speed in children up to 9 years. Secondary exploratory analyses indicated that children born to mothers with higher AA/DHA ratio at delivery (p < 0.001) and heterozygotes for FADS1 rs174556 (p < 0.05) showed better performance in processing speed at 9 years. Negative associations between processing speed scores and maternal tHcy levels at delivery were found. Our findings suggest speed processing development in children up to 9 years could be related to maternal factors, including AA/DHA and tHcy levels, and their genetic background, mainly FADS polymorphism. These considerations support that maternal prenatal supplementation should be quantitatively adequate and individualized to obtain better brain development and mental performance in the offspring.European Commission 212652 007036 QLK1-CT-1999-00888European Commission European Commission Joint Research Centre DYNAHEALTH-633595 Lifecycle-733206European Research Council Advanced Grant META-GROWTH ERC-2012AdG 322605Erasmus Plus Programme Early Nutrition eAcademy Southeast Asia 573651EPP-1-2016-1-DE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JPErasmus Plus Programme Capacity Building to Improve Early Nutrition and Health in South Africa 598488-EPP-1-2018-1-DE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JPEU Interreg Programme Focus in CD-CE111European Joint Programming Initiative Project NutriPROGRAM and EndObesityGerman Ministry of Education and Research, Berlin 01 GI 0825German Research Foundation (DFG) Ko912/12-1 INST 409/224-1 FUGGElse Kroner-Fresenius-FoundationLMU University Hospital

Maternal, fetal and perinatal alterations associated with obesity, overweight and gestational diabetes: an observational cohort study (PREOBE)

Abstract Background: Maternal overweight, obesity, and gestational diabetes (GD) have been negatively associated with offspring development. Further knowledge regarding metabolic and nutritional alterations in these mother and their offspring are warranted. Methods: In an observational cohort study we included 331 pregnant women from Granada, Spain. The mothers were categorized into four groups according to BMI and their GD status; overweight (n:56), obese (n:64), GD (n:79), and healthy normal weight controls (n:132). We assessed maternal growth and nutritional biomarkers at 24 weeks (n = 269), 34 weeks (n = 310) and at delivery (n = 310) and the perinatal characteristics including cord blood biomarkers. Results: Obese and GD mothers had significantly lower weight gain during pregnancy and infant birth weight, waist circumference, and placental weight were higher in the obese group, including a significantly increased prevalence of macrosomia. Except for differences in markers of glucose metabolism (glucose, HbA1c, insulin and uric acid) we found at some measures that overweight and/or obese mothers had lower levels of transferrin saturation, hemoglobin, Vitamin B12 and folate and higher levels of C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, ferritin, and cortisol. GD mothers had similar differences in hemoglobin and C-reactive protein but higher levels of folate. The latter was seen also in cord blood. Conclusions: We identified several metabolic alterations in overweight, obese and GD mothers compared to controls. Together with the observed differences in infant anthropometrics, these may be important biomarkers in future research regarding the programming of health and disease in children. Trial registration: The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov, identifier (NCT01634464). Keywords: Pregnancy, Maternal overweight, Maternal obesity, Gestational diabetes, Offspring, Fetal nutrition, Early programming, Vitamin B12, Folate, Iron status, Glucose metabolis

The impact of GPU/Multicore in Signal Processing: a quantitative approach

[EN] This paper presents a meaningful practical performance comparison between the last generation of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and the last generation multi-core CPUs when they are used to solve given Signal Processing algorithms. Two kinds of tests were considered: when GPU pre-designed computational libraries were available, and when the GPU code was developed by the authors. Results show that GPUs offer great possibilities, but its programming is still hard and high performances can be obtained only if the algorithm can be adapted to the GPU programming model.This work was financially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Projects TIN2008-06570-C04-02, TEC2009-13741 and CAPAP-H3 TIN2010-12011-E), Universitat Politècnica de València through “Programa de Apoyo a la Investigación y Desarrollo (PAID-05-10)” and Generalitat Valenciana through project PROMETEO/2009/013.García Mollá, VM.; Gonzalez, A.; González García, CY.; Martínez Zaldívar, FJ.; Ramiro Sánchez, C.; Roger Varea, S.; Vidal Maciá, AM. (2011). The impact of GPU/Multicore in Signal Processing: a quantitative approach. Waves. (3):96-106. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/47425S96106

New gall-associated species of Allorhogas (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), including a natural enemy of the weed Miconia calvescens (Melastomataceae)

Nine species of the gall-associated doryctine genus Allorhogas Gahan (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) are described from Brazil (A. clidemiae Martínez and Zaldívar-Riverón new species, A. granivorus Zaldívar-Riverón and Martínez new species, A. mineiro Zaldívar-Riverón and Martínez new species, and A. vulgaris Zaldívar-Riverón and Martínez new species) and Costa Rica (A. brevithorax Zaldívar-Riverón and Martínez new species, A. pallidus Martínez and ZaldívarRiverón new species, A. psychotria Zaldívar-Riverón and Martínez new species, A. punctatus Martínez and Zaldívar-Riverón new species, and A. tico Martínez and Zaldívar-Riverón new species). We provide host plant records for the described species, including information that reveals that at least three of them feed on seeds. Allorhogas granivorus had previously been confirmed to represent a natural enemy of the invasive weed Miconia calvescens de Candolle (Melastomataceae). Updated keys to the species of Allorhogas from Brazil and Costa Rica are provided.Fil: Zaldívar Riverón, Alejandro. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México; MéxicoFil: Martínez, Juan José. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Hanson, Paul E.. Universidad de Costa Rica; Costa RicaFil: Mayorga Martínez, Cristina. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México; MéxicoFil: Salinas Ramos, Valeria B.. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México; MéxicoFil: Faria, Lucas D. B.. Universidade Federal de Lavras; Brasi

Applyng geophysical methods to evaluate natural hazards in karst systems: a case of study in the surroundings of the Nerja Cave

Workshop Alboran domain and Gibraltar Arc: geological research and natural hazards, Granada (Spain), 16-18 october, 201

The impacts of maternal iron deficiency and being overweight during pregnancy on neurodevelopment of the offspring.

Both maternal Fe deficiency (ID) and being overweight or obese (Ow/Ob, BMI≥25 kg/m2) may negatively affect offspring brain development. However, the two risk factors correlate and their independent effects on infant neurodevelopment are unclear. PREOBE is a prospective observational study that included 331 pregnant Spanish women, of whom 166 had pre-gestational Ow/Ob. Fe status was analysed at 34 weeks and at delivery, and babies were assessed using Bayley III scales of neurodevelopment at 18 months. In confounder-adjusted analyses, maternal ID at 34 weeks was associated with lower composite motor scores at 18 months (mean 113·3 (sd 9·9) v. 117·1 (sd 9·2), P=0·039). Further, the offspring of mothers with ID at delivery had lower cognitive scores (114·0 (sd 9·7) v. 121·5 (sd 10·9), P=0·039) and lower receptive, expressive and composite (99·5 (sd 8·6) v. 107·6 (sd 8·3), P=0·004) language scores. The negative associations between maternal ID at delivery and Bayley scores remained even when adjusting for maternal Ow/Ob and gestational diabetes. Similarly, maternal Ow/Ob correlated with lower gross motor scores in the offspring (12·3 (sd 2·0) v. 13·0 (sd 2·1), P=0·037), a correlation that remained when adjusting for maternal ID. In conclusion, maternal ID and pre-gestational Ow/Ob are both negatively associated with Bayley scores at 18 months, but independently and on different subscales. These results should be taken into account when considering Fe supplementation for pregnant women